The Department of Anthropology faculty has voted unanimously to express our concerns regarding the NYU 2031 plan
for expansion on the superblocks and Houston
Streets for the following reasons:

There has not been adequate or genuine consultation with the
faculty regarding the rationale for the plan, the logic of expansion, its
location and design, and the health and environmental consequences of an
anticipated twenty years of construction.

There has been no transparency
regarding the budgeting for an extremely costly building campaign in a time of longstanding
fiscal uncertainty. The costs of other
far more modest construction projects such as the Kimmel Center have resulted
in the freezing of faculty salaries, an unacceptable outcome.
Alternatively,
NYU students, already among the most indebted in the nation and subject to
high tuition costs, are likely to have to absorb the costs of expansion in the
form of higher tuition.
ffsetting the expense of expansion by increased student enrollment would
certainly have a negative impact on the quality of education.

The disruption
caused by construction in Washington Square Village or Silver Towers will have
serious adverse effects on the retention and recruitment of high quality faculty, which is
at the heart of our academic mission.

The execution of the 2031 plan may result in an irreparable rift with our community neighbors given the
plan's anticipated
rezoning for
commercial development and the reduction of public greenspace in this
high-density residential area.